For entities that sell and/or service various types of equipment (such as medical systems, aircraft engines, computer equipment, and so forth), the maintenance of an accurate list of installed systems may be important for both regulatory and business reasons. For example, in the event of a recall, it would be important to know how many systems need to be recalled where they are located, and who to contact. Additionally, it may be important to know whether certain equipment is still being utilized by customers when making decisions about whether or not equipment should be phased out of production and support.
The typical approach of maintaining data on installed systems involves keeping records of equipment shipments or installations. Though this approach is straight forward and effective for a short time following installation or shipment, it does not track assets well over a long period of time. For example, when equipment's effective life is long, the equipment may be moved or sold before it is decommissioned, making it difficult to maintain accurate records.
In current inventory tracking systems, movement of the equipment may not be captured because reporting of such movement does not always occur. For example, in the event the equipment is sold, or there is a change of ownership, subsequent movement of the equipment may not be recorded in the records of the manufacturer or the records of a service provider.
Further, systems configured to track the movement of equipment may be inadequate. For example, current radio frequency identification (RFID) asset location systems typically require an installed infrastructure of antennas, satellites, or similar fixed assets that may not provide sufficient geographic coverage to determine the location of devices which may be physically moved to other buildings or facilities, i.e., off-site. For example, even if a system is capable of tracking a portable X-ray system located inside a hospital, once it leaves the hospital its location may be indeterminate using current location systems. Similarly, if the same portable X-ray system enters a different hospital, it may or may not be identified due to differences in the infrastructure. Additionally, in many instances there is not a common inventory database between different hospitals to identify the device. Even if there is such a common database, however, it may not be shared with the manufacturer or service provider interested in maintaining accurate installed base information.